Meanings
plural attorneys general · plural attorney generals · alternative Attorney-General · alternative attorney-general
- The chief legal advisor to the government, overseeing legal affairs and ensuring that laws are uniformly and justly applied.
If you do wrongfully ſeize Herford's right, call in his Letters Patents that he hath By his Atturneyes generall, to ſue[…]
1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 29, column 2Synonyms: AG, Atty. Gen.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe chief legal advisor to the government, overseeing legal affairs and ensuring that laws are uniformly and justly applied.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe person who holds the position of secretary of the Justice Department
nounthe position of the head of the Justice Department and the chief law enforcement officer of the United States
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From Anglo-Norman and Law French, (modern French avocat général or procureur général), hence the unusual order of adjective following noun, instead of idiomatic English *general attorney. Compare court martial, notary public, secretary general, surgeon general.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نَائِب عَامّ
- نَائِب عَامّ (nāʔib ʕāmm)major government officer
Bulgarian гла́вен прокуро́р
- гла́вен прокуро́р (gláven prokurór)major government officer
Chinese Mandarin 司法部長 /司法部长
- 司法部長 /司法部长 (sīfǎ bùzhǎng)major government officer
Czech generální prokurátor
- generální prokurátormajor government officer
Danish justitsminister
- justitsministermajor government officer
Dutch procureur-generaal
- procureur-generaalmajor government officer
Estonian õiguskantsler
- õiguskantslermajor government officer
Finnish oikeuskansleri, valtakunnansyyttäjä
- oikeuskanslerimajor government officer
- valtakunnansyyttäjämajor government officer
French procureur général
- procureur généralmajor government officer
German Generalstaatsanwalt
- Generalstaatsanwaltmajor government officer
Hebrew תובע כללי, תובעת כללית
- תובע כלליmajor government officer
- תובעת כלליתmajor government officer
Hungarian főállamügyész, igazságügy-miniszter
- főállamügyészmajor government officer
- igazságügy-minisztermajor government officer
Indonesian jaksa agung
- jaksa agungmajor government officer
Irish Ard-Aighne
- Ard-Aighnemajor government officer
Italian procuratore generale
- procuratore generalemajor government officer
Japanese 検事総長
- 検事総長 (kenji sōchō)major government officer
Malay peguam negara
- peguam negaramajor government officer
Māori rōia matua
- rōia matuamajor government officer
Norwegian Bokmål justisminister
- justisministermajor government officer
Polish prokurator generalny
- prokurator generalnymajor government officer
Portuguese procurador geral, procuradora geral
- procurador geralmajor government officer
- procuradora geralmajor government officer
Romanian procuror general
- procuror generalmajor government officer
Russian мини́стр юсти́ции, генера́льный прокуро́р
- мини́стр юсти́ции (minístr justícii)major government officer
- генера́льный прокуро́р (generálʹnyj prokurór)major government officer
- генпрокуро́р (genprokurór)major government officer
Slovak generálny prokurátor
- generálny prokurátormajor government officer
Spanish fiscal general, procurador general
- fiscal generalmajor government officer
- procurador generalmajor government officer
- procuradora generalmajor government officer
Swedish kronjurist, justitieminister
- kronjuristmajor government officer
- justitieministermajor government officer
Ukrainian генера́льний прокуро́р
- генера́льний прокуро́р (henerálʹnyj prokurór)major government officer
Welsh twrnai cyffredinol
- twrnai cyffredinolmajor government officer
Cite this entry
attorney general. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/attorney%20general
“attorney general.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/attorney%20general. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “attorney general,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/attorney%20general.
Source: attorney general on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.